BOYHOOD IN GALLOWAY 13 



which leads you to " the hidden bases of the hills." 

 It was beyond these hills, a lofty range whose 

 highest point is over 2600 feet above the sea, and 

 some nine or ten miles west of Dairy, that we 

 wished to penetrate. Beyond these hills, we knew, 

 was a wild, unknown country, most difficult of 

 access, awaiting the explorer. For had we not 

 already been there many times in our imagina- 

 tion with the aid of the Ordnance map ; gloried 

 over the strange names of the mountains and 

 burns which we found there ; the almost com- 

 plete lack of any houses? Did we not know that 

 the head waters of the Dee lay beyond those 

 mountains, and the celebrated upper Loch Dee, 

 in whose magical confines were fabulous great 

 trout awaiting us — it was said, even up to ten 

 pounds in weight ? 



That eventful Sunday we actually started off, 

 sandwiches in pocket, to find Loch Dee, and to call 

 at a certain shepherd's house named the Black 

 Laggan, situated near the head of the loch, and 

 there to inquire for rooms for the ensuing week. 

 The Black Laggan ! the name did not sound pro- 

 mising. Immediately one's imagination conjures up 

 a picture of some dire murder-hole, similar to that 



